California approved the $156.5 million Asian Pacific Islander Equity Budget in July. It includes victim support and mental healthcare initiatives. This package was created to combat decades of anti-Asian American racism, as well as a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the latest sign of California's growing influence with its 6 million Asian Americans. It was the highest amount of similar legislation passed by any state.
Russell Jeung, a professor in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, and co-founder of Stop AAPI hate, which tracks incidents and discrimination against Asian Americans. They quickly identified the problem of racism faced by Asian Americans, and they spent their money to denounce it and seek to address it.
Kamala Harris was the first vice president of Asian descent. She served as California's attorney General and then as U.S senator from the nation’s most populous states. Her mother is Indian and her father Jamaican.
The political achievements of Asian Americans in California could indicate what political changes are to come in other areas of the United States. According to the 2020 Census data, Asian Americans grew by 35.5% in the last decade.
Nearly 20,000,000 census respondents identified themselves as Asian Americans, which is 6% of the total population. 4 million people said they were Asian American mixed with another race. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations, which are much smaller at less than 700,000, saw a 27.8% increase, the second fastest growth rate of any ethnic or race group in the country.
Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), cited a Pew Research Center projection showing that Asian Americans will surpass Hispanics in order to be the nation's largest immigrant population by 2055. However, he said the community's influence is already evident.
"What we are seeing is Asian Americans settling not only in California and New York but also in states like Georgia, presidential swing state," Lieu stated. This is taking Asian Americans away from a position of being marginalized to a place where they could be the margin of victory.
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During the second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump, Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) speaks in the Senate.
Karthick Ramakrishnan is the founder of demographics publisher AAPI Data. He said that rising numbers of Asian Americans (AAPI) and Pacific Islanders voters (AAPI Data) combined with increased participation in 2020's election, fueled in part by comments by former President Donald Trump that were perceived as anti-Asian, make a powerful combination. Ramakrishnan is a professor of public policies at the University of California in Riverside. He said that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders voted Democratic by more than two to one.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders saw the greatest population growth between 2010 and 2020, compared to any other racial/ethnic group. They also saw the highest increase in voter turnout between 2016-2020. He said that these populations aren't only growing rapidly, but they are also becoming more politically active in ways we have never seen before."
California is an example of progress for Pacific Islander and Asian Americans in the Pacific.
Asian Americans are still underrepresented in California's public offices based on the state's overall population. However, they have made a strong political presence in the Golden State. Kamala Harris is the most prominent example. She was the first vice president of Asian descent and served as the state's Attorney General. Her mother was born in India.
Eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives are from California, six Democrats and two Republicans. Washington is the next state with two Asian American legislators.
In April, Rob Bonta became California's first attorney-general of Filipino descent. This means that three out of eight state constitutional offices are now held by Asian Americans. Bonta established quickly a Racial Justice bureau to combat hate crimes against all groups.
California's equity budget is a policy success. The $156.5 million package was created "to address hatred" toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. It provides support for victims and assistance for those with language issues. Additionally, it calls for better data collection to combat bullying in schools.
He said, "That's not happened before." It's a sign that there is greater awareness that we need to organize and that others recognize that the (AAPII) community is a force to be contended and that more attention must be paid.
Pan stated that despite California's progress, there is still room for more representation. Pan stated that only two of the 40 California state senators come from the AAPI group, while six should be the norm. California is home to nearly 33% of Asian Americans, or 7 million people.
While Bonta's appointment to the top state law enforcement officer is important, Pan stated that Asian Americans are not well represented among California's district lawyers. This post is crucial in creating "a more just and equitable society where your race does not predispose yourself to disadvantages."
Coalitions with other groups are needed to achieve goals that might exceed AAPI reach, according Mary Anne Foo (executive director of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, OCAPICA) in Southern California.
"Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Latinos work together because we share our neighborhoods and businesses. Foo stated that we work together. "A lot of community groups, churches, we work together even though we don't know the same languages (to) deal with common issues, especially in immigration, small business development and affordable housing, as well as healthcare."
More than 70% of AAPI adults have been immigrated and one-third only speak English, which indicates areas where there are service needs.
Voting in Asian Americans could swing elections in the purple states
Even though California has the largest AAPI population, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are making progress in other parts. (Hawaii, with less than 1.5 million inhabitants, has a much higher percentage of AAPIs, at nearly 50%.
Massachusetts has a House Asian Caucus, and New York legislators have an Asian Pacific American Task Force. Illinois became the first state last month to require teaching of Asian American history at public schools.
Protests and rallies arose due to an increase in anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led eventually to the approval of a national anti hate crime law.
Ramakrishnan, AAPI Data, stated that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a significant influence on politics in New Jersey, Washington, and Virginia. These voters are also becoming a factor for Texas and Georgia, traditionally Republican state where Democratic numbers are increasing.
According to 2020 census figures, nearly 25% of Texas' population is made up of Asian Americans. Other cities with the fastest-growing Asian American population include Buffalo, New York (153.2%), Omaha, Nebraska (up 123.5%), Fort Wayne, Indiana (82.2%), Fort Wayne, Indiana (82.2%), Tampa, Florida (up 80.8%), and Columbus, Ohio (79.5%).
Ramakrishnan stated that there is a common theme in other areas of the country: Asian Americans are growing rapidly, becoming more politically influential in many of the traditional destination states as well (in) many of these newer destinations states. This makes politics more competitive in many states in the South than we have ever seen.
By 12,000 votes, Joe Biden won Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Georgia was a Republican stronghold. The number of presidential ballots cast in 2020 by Asian Americans increased by 84% over 2016.
Many Republican-led states have approved or introduced voting-law amendments since the election. Republicans claim that this will increase election security, while Democrats argue that it will limit ballot access, particularly for minorities, such as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
According to Phi Nguyen (litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta), a non-profit civil rights organization that opposed the law in court, the Georgia election changes are now law and would "disproportionately affect" Asian American voters.
Nguyen stated that Asian Americans voted early and via mail at high rates, and that the (legislation), creates barriers to both. He also said that long-running outreach efforts and extensive outreach were the main reason for the higher voter turnout.
Asian American activists and voters have been motivated by anti-Asian hatred
All Americans needed information and assistance when COVID-19 arrived. However, Asian Americans were in particular need due to an increase in anti-Asian hatred and violence directed towards the community by people wrongly blaming it for the pandemic. Stop Asian Hate has reported over 9,000 incidents. These range from verbal harassment and physical assaults to civil rights violations. They were all reported from the beginning of the pandemic in America, March 19, 2020.
Eight people were killed in shootings at Atlanta-area spas in March, highlighting the rise in anti-Asian violence. Six of these victims were women of Asian descent. U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, pushed to pass anti-Asian hate crimes legislation. In May, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was passed.
Gregg Orton (NCAPA's national director) stated that the challenges presented by COVID-19, and the resulting rise in anti-Asian hate crime, reinforced the need to engage politically.
He said, "I believe the past year and a quarter with the pandemic have shown many in our community that it is time to speak up and stand up for ourselves."
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) is seen talking about the U.S. Census. She chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Chu stated that Trump "stoked xenophobia by using anti-Chinese rhetoric linked to COVID-19's origins in that country, such as calling it the "China virus", and the "kung flu."
She said that even though he was repeatedly informed that it was hurting the AAPI population he doubled down and used it more.
People of Asian descent have been punished and blamed for more than 100 years in America. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Loyalty suspicions led to the internment Japanese Americans during World War II. Economic competition with Japan caused violence in the 1980s including the murder Vincent Chin. People of South Asian heritage were also targeted in the aftermath of 9/11.
Chu's House colleague, Lieu, was encouraged by the backlash to the hate crime surge. This included grassroots support for Asian Americans and the federal anti-Asian hatred crimes act, which focuses on anti-Asian racism, that was signed into legislation in May.
We saw many rallies in support of the Asian American community across America. There were many people who came out to these rallies. The president and vice-president visited with leaders from the Asian American community in Georgia. Congress passed, on a bipartisan and bicameral basis a law to address hate crime against Asian Americans," he stated. "I don't think Japanese Americans would be interned if all of that had happened during World War II." You can see the growing political power of the Asian American community and we are in a new political climate.
Education can be a tool to combat stereotypes of Asian Americans based on census data
Activists and lawmakers said that education about the 50 distinct ethnic groups that make up the Asian American/Pacific Islander community will foster understanding and acceptance.
"It is vital for people to realize that we are not a monolithic society and that there are many distinct aspects of our cultures (and also the barriers and things that we face," said Tavae Samuelu (executive director of Empowered Pacific Islander Communities, a national advocacy group for social justice based in Los Angeles).
As they march down Market Street, protesters wave signs before joining a rally in solidarity with Asian Americans at Embarcadero Plaza on the 26th of March 2021 in San Francisco. In solidarity with Asian Americans, hundreds marched through San Francisco's downtown and rallied at Embarcadero Plaza.
She said that the highest COVID rates have been recorded in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and that women in this group are more likely to be employed than AAPI women.
Samuelu stated that it was our responsibility as a community, to push media outlets and political outlets to have deeper and more complex conversations about communities.
Chu stated that more information could also help to dispel stereotypes about Asian Americans as being the other.
"We are still a minority. Our stereotypes are still prevalent, with the most obvious being that we are the perpetual foreigner. Chu stated that even though many Asian Americans have lived in the United States for generations, some still see them as "really belonging to another country". This harm is made worse by their wrongful association with COVID.
She added that a growing American community means "more opportunities to show the AAPI population, in all of our diversity, and in all the areas where we have influence."
This article was originally published on USA TODAY. Census finds that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing.
